Drip Irrigation, Fish Farms and Indoor Gardening

Indoor gardens can:
* be inexpensive
* be easy to create
* help consume trash and pollution
* create oxygen
* help reduce greenhouse gas — carbon dioxide
* produce fresh food
* keep you healthier

There are at least 3 different gardening experiments you can try. The Bio(logical) Feedback Farm is the simplest to build, can be created for free and is the easiest to maintain. However, this method may not allow you to grow/raise all the types of food you desire. Here are two low cost alternative methods you may wish to add to your mix:

Drip Irrigation
Drip irrigation can be done in almost any setting. For indoor applications, a simple garden sprayer can be fitted with 1/4 inch tubing. Commercially available “drip fittings” are available at most home and garden stores. Enough materials to irrigate up to 50 plants cost about $30 USD. You can experiment with different types of fittings. Most are designed for outdoor “quick” dripping. I’ve had the most success with adjustable flow mist sprayers turned to their lowest setting. In general, you want about 6-12 drips per minute. Almost any kind of potted fruit or vegetable can be grown this way.

WARNING: In case of a fitting failure, or over watering of a plant, make certain you have emergency overflow containers properly positioned. Also, you shouldn’t fill the garden sprayer with any more water than your emergency containers can handle.

Catfish in an Indoor Fish Farm

Aqua-ecosystem
An aqua-ecosystem is a complete self-sustaining environment that will produce consumable animal, fruit and vegetable products. A regular aquarium works well for the structure of the garden. Plants can be grown on top of the water using a “lily pad method.” A sponge, foam rubber, Styrofoam, of other such material, can act as an island for dirt and seeds. Another method is to create a cylinder out of wire mesh or use pieces of PVC piping to create semi-submerged obelisks. Fill the bottom with rocks, a biodegradable shopping bag or two and add dirt and seeds to the top. Yet another method is to take wire mesh rain spout protectors, invert them, fill them with bundled plants (like scallions and dirt wrapped in a paper towel) and hang it from the side of the tank so the roots are submerged.

Catfish, snails and other edible animals help to give you a well rounded diet… while at the same time complete the cycle for an ecosystem. Try to choose vegetarian animals. They can feed themselves, as well as, require less effort to keep the water clean. With some species, you’ll be able to turn your garden into a garbage disposal for fruit and vegetable waste. In turn, the animals will recycle your garbage into fertilizer for the plants you are growing.

Just determine what you would like on your menu, and you’re ready to GrOw.

Hints
A plant needs 7 things to grow:
a place with enough room to grow, light, water, air, nutrients, proper temperature, and time. When you are planting inside, it is usually easy to control these needs. However, depending how far away from the equator you live, the sun may not rise high enough into the sky during certain months to give you adequate light. Properly placed mirrors can be a cost effective alternative to grow lights.

Garden Built From Recycled Materials

People often ask, “What can I do to help the world be a better place.” Well, here is something that you can do! It is easy and fun. Why wouldn’t everyone try it?

Building your own bio-feedback farm will help reduce these types of pollution:

1. grocery and shopping bag trash
2. empty bottles
3. old clothes
4. carbon dioxide (CO2)

Building your own bio-feedback farm will help create:

1. fertilizer
2. food
3. O2

How to build your own biofeedback farm diagram.

1. Find a bottle from the trash. Try different shapes and colors to see how it effects plant growth. Then, fill it about 3/4 full of water. (If you fill it while warming your bath water, you’ll help save water and lessen sewage, too.)
2. Stuff a biodegradable grocery or shopping bag into the bottle. If you are filling a large bottle or milk jug, you may need to use several bags. Sometimes plastic bottles are too top heavy. In this case, you may want to put some stones in before stuffing the bag.
3. Tear a strip of rag so that it is as long as the bottle and an inch or 2 wide. Push it in past the bag so that it reaches the bottom. Place the excess on top of the bag. This cloth will act as a wick bringing water up from the bottom of the bottle to keep your plant moist.
4. Put enough dirt in to cover the top of the bag. Next, drop a seed in and cover it with a little more dirt.
5. Finally, place the bottle on a windowsill with a southern exposure (if you live in the northern hemisphere.)

Tips
Depending on the size of your bottle, the type of plant, temperature and other variables, you will need to periodically add water. We suggest planting foods you like to eat. Beans, tomatoes, peas and cucumbers all seem to grow well. But, try whatever you like. (I’m growing popcorn in a milk jug right now!)

Here are some more pictures and a print-out of the diagram.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

Good luck!

One of the biggest man-made problems is the use of land for farming. The clearing of land for farms is contributing to global warming in such a way as to compound the disaster in an exponential way — as more land is cleared for farming, more greenhouse gases are created and less mature plants are available to consume CO2.

Low impact farming means you do not destroy or drastically alter a habitat.

Indigenous
Basic diet advice: eat indigenous to your climate

For instance, if you live in Florida and like fruit high in Vitamin C, perhaps oranges would be a good choice.. However, if you live in Pennsylvania, cherries and raspberries might be a better choice. This simple change may make your Ph level much nicer to live with.

Not only is it hard to get fat on an indigenous diet, but the chemicals needed to make you feel best are also found in the local grown foods.

Fencing
Try not to clear land and plant single crops in any given area. Instead, grow a variety of crops in a variety of locations. Vertically grown cucumbers can be planted alongside mints. Tomatoes can be inter-mixed with basil plants.

Minimize the amount of fending needed to separate the plants from the animals. Rather than enclosing a large space with a fence, put up many small fences
designed specifically to protect the particular plants from the specific animals that will destroy them.

No Till
Avoid plows and rototillers. Over time, plant a wide variety of plant that grow in harmony with each other in small plots. The intermingling of the species will help keep out the weeds.

Hands On
Attempt to use your hands as much as possible. There are benefits to smelling and touching many plants.

Watering
Use as little outsourced water as possible. Utilize rain to the best of the gardens ability. Add additional water from captured rain and reclaimed waste water.

Well Being
Gardening can be way-of-life that benefits the spirit, mind and body. Walking, singing, whistling, watering can be good for you both physically and mentally.